Philter
by Sev Savvy
Summary: Two years after the war Hermione Granger becomes a teacher at Hogwarts. SSHG.   Better summary to come as the story develops.
1. Chapter 1

The Daily Prophet

Just yesterday Harry Potter the boy-who-lived married long time girlfriend Ginerva Weasley. Potter, famed defeater of Voldemort and newest face of the Auror's Office, kept the ceremony under wraps. Only those close to the couple were permitted to attend.

The guest list included many very high profile guests. Ronald Weasley (star beater for the Chudley Cannons), brother to the bride and best friend to the groom was in attendance with Hermione Granger, newest staff member at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, also a close friend of the couple. There have been many false reports that Weasley and Granger are engaged. The Prophet plans to investigate the relationship further at a later date.

One of the more shocking guests was Deputy Headmaster at Hogwarts, Severus Snape. He has barely gone out in public in the last two years since the war. Minister Shacklebolt was there as well. The guest list was estimated at around fifty wizards and witches. We wish this couple well as they take on life together.

Geoff Ridges

-The Daily Prophet


	2. Chapter 2

Hermione woke with a start in unfamiliar quarters. She quickly reached for her wand and illuminated the room. When her rapid heartbeat slowed she realized she was in her new quarters. The transfiguration quarters at Hogwarts. Her new home. She looked around at the Victorian style furniture, trying to familiarize herself with the space before she got up and walked around, bumping into something.

She wasn't surprised that her dream last night was a very intense nightmare about the final battle considering this was the first time she had spent the night in the castle since that night. She wiped the sweat off of her wrinkled brow with the back of the sleeve of her nightgown.

Lighting the fire and illuminating the torches in her bedroom, she began to ready herself for the day. Today was the day that the students of Hogwarts would be arriving. She was nervous and excited. She was ready to begin her job.

Donning for the first time her teaching robes, Hermione felt a rush of importance and excitement. She fashioned her bushy brown hair into a neat chignon at the back of her head with a few face framing pieces with the help of a little magic. She glanced at herself in the mirror and left the room.

She had slept in later than intended but still had time to grab breakfast in the great hall with the rest of the staff to discuss how the opening feast would go. She hurried down the halls, hoping she wouldn't be late. The clicking of her boots echoed loudly as she hurried down the corridor.

Finally she made it to the great hall. The food was set up at the Hufflepuff table where all of the teachers were sitting.

"Sorry I'm late." she said apologetically. At the same time Minerva's voice said it was no matter and she was only two minutes late, a deep sardonic voice rang out.

"You would do well to avoid tardiness from now on Ms. Granger." Snape said. Hermione felt threatened but decided to reply to him.

"It won't happen again. Please. Call me Hermione." she requested of Snape, knowing it would get under his skin. His face remained expressionless. It seemed he was not going to dignify that with a response.

"Okay. Let's begin." McGonagall said, moving on "Severus will chaperone the first years. I need two of you to keep an eye on the older students getting into the carriages and one to ensure that the train is empty. Any volunteers?"

"I'll watch the older students." Hermione offered helpfully.

"So will I" Martin Marvel, the new defense against the dark arts teacher said.

"I'll take care of the train." Flitwick called out.

"Thank you all." Minerva said with a smile. "Now onto my favorite part...food suggestions."

The staff chatted happily for a few moments about what types of food they would like to see at the feast then they all ate. There was some playful exchange of tips for the new teachers at the table.

Hermione listened and laughed and at the end of the meal was in a very good mood. As everyone began to leave the table she heard Snape's voice directed at her again.

"Hermione. A moment." unlike her, Severus had no issue warming up to new names. It sounded very fluid on his tongue.

"Yes?" she asked, once all of the teachers were out of earshot.

"You will inevitably get some animal mistransfigurations from your students during your course. I have been studying some of the ones Minerva's classes have produced and some have potential as potions ingredients. If they don't die immediately I was wondering if you could give them to me." he said.

"I wouldn't mind at all." she answered.

"Thank you." he said and walked out. Hermione watched him and marveled that he would have thought to utilize such different methods.

-x-

Before she knew it, Hermione was outside by the train station, listening to the chatter of Fillius and the noises of the approaching train. The Hogwarts Express brought some very valuable cargo. Hermione was elated about meeting some of her students. The fifth, sixth, and seventh years were in Hogwarts when she was too, but she didn't remember any of them. She hoped she would learn all of the student's names quickly.

As the black engine pulled up to the platform, the teachers became very alert. The doors opened an students began to pour out. Hermione felt very young for a moment when she saw faces of seventh years that were only a few years younger than her. Then she looked down, saw her robes and remembered that she was a teacher and the head of the Gryffindor house.

"Second through seventh years this way!" she called loudly. A steady stream of students headed towards the carriages. She yelled it several more times then when the students were cleared, she got on one of the carriages. She felt a chill go down her spine every time she looked at the threstals. She remembered Luna and Harry discussing them and herself insisting that the carriages pulled themselves. It was amazing how things changed.

Once the students were shepherded into The Great Hall, Hermione took a seat at the head table, next to am empty chair that belonged to Snape. She realized she would besieging by him all year and oddly wasn't upset about it. She liked something about the man and didn't mind spending time with him.

Snape on the other hand was busy scaring the first years. It wasn't really on purpose. He just gave off an intimidating aura and the young students easily picked up on it. He heard them telling horribly incorrect stories to one another that they had heard from their siblings or friends. He interrupted a particularly interesting tale about how if you didn't pick up your clothes you would turn into a house elf to tell them about the houses.

"There are four houses at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were named after the four founders. Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Your house is your family. You will be sorted into your houses momentarily. I will see if they are ready for you. Stay. Here." his silky vice enunciated the last two words as he slid through the doors to the great hall.

Hermione was only one of many people who noticed the doors open. Severus walked up to the table and Hermione could hear what was said between the Headmistress and Deputy Headmaster.

"a particularly dunderheaded bunch." the potions master said quietly.

"Severus!" Minerva scolded. "Bring them in." the tall man nodded and walked out.

All of a sudden the doors opened and many timid looking first years walked in, eyes wide, staring at the enchanted ceiling. They stood together in a group before the staff table. Hermione smiled down at them, trying to soothe their nerves as much as possible.

"You will be sorted when I call your names." Snape said, retrieving a scroll from a pocket within his robes "Arkinson, Patricia"

Patricia Arkinson walked up to the stool while Snape held up the sorting hat. Patricia turned out to be a Slytherin. The sorting passed quickly, there were not a whole lot of first years this year. After it was complete and all of the new students were settled down the headmistress stood up to start he start of year speech.

"Welcome to Hogwarts first years and to the rest of you, welcome back. Mr. Filched has asked me to remind all students to go down to his office to view the complete list of banned items. The forest on grounds is forbidden to all students as is the nearby town Hogsmeade to all under third year or those without signed permission slips. You must stay in your common rooms after dinner. All students found out of quarters after hours will be severely punished. The third floor has been refurbished over the summer and now holds several new rooms that are no longer off limits. Now I would like to announce some additions to our staff. Say hello to our new Head of Gryffindor and transfiguration professor, Professor Hermione Granger and Professor Martin Marvel, the new defense against the dark arts professor. Now I am sure you are all hungry so enjoy the feast and get a good night's sleep. Classes start tomorrow."

The clanking of silverware soon filled the great hall. Everyone, it seemed, was happy. Except, of course, for the dour potion's master to Hermione's left. Hermione flashed him a bright smile to which he responded to with almost a growl. That didn't even agitate the Gryffindor, she was in such high spirits.

"Aren't you the least bit excited about this term?" she asked in a moment of frankness.

"Yes. The house elves have shown some real improvement over the summer. I'm looking forward to a year full of good food." his facial expression didn't deviate from his usual mask which left Hermione not knowing weather to turn back to her plate silently or burst out laughing. She opted to do the first and went back to eating and watching the students.

Inevitably she was excited for the year to begin.


	3. Chapter 3

Despite the restless sleep last night, Hermione felt wide awake as she strode down the corridor at Hogwarts. She was headed to the common room of the Gryffindors a few minutes before breakfast to get to know them a little better and explain what it means to be a Gryffindor. It was a new thing that one of the teachers had suggested and everyone had been on board.

She gave the password to the portrait protecting the quarters and she instinctively began to head in the direction of the girls rooms. She stopped herself and looked around. There were a few students in the common room but there were many still in their rooms. Hermione performed a sonorous charm to call them down.

She smiled brightly as she saw the sleepy faces assemble around her.

"Good morning everyone. I'm Professor Granger, your head of house. For the upper years I wanted to introduce myself and for the first years I wanted to take some time and explain what it means to be a Gryffindor. I would like all of you to know that if you need anything I will do my best to help you. You can confide in me and I will try as hard as I can to give you solid advice." the students watched her and were respectably quiet.

"The Gryffindor house was named after one of the four founders, Godric Gryffindor. As a house Gryffindors are known for their courage and bravery. Some very important wizards and witches have come from Gryffindor including Albus Dumbledore, Nicholas Flammel, The Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shaklebolt, and Harry Potter. I would like to see my Gryffindors foster inter house relationships and also look out for their own. I would like to maintain the honor that this house is known for. Please be conscious in your classes that your performance effects everyone of the people around you. Act like a good Gryffindor would and try to stay out of trouble. Have a good first day of classes and enjoy your breakfast."

She hadn't known exactly what to say to the students. She felt like she did a pretty good job. It was a little weird to deal with so many eyes on her but she felt good after it. She walked down to breakfast with a little bit of a skip in her step. She was eager to get to her first class and show off that animagus she had worked so hard to pull off over the past summer and to get better acquainted with some of the students.

In the great hall, she took her seat. The chairs to her left were unoccupied. She knew McGonagall was off at the ministry dealing with some work, where Snape was, she had no clue.

She watched the students file in then began to fill her plate with some of the fragrant breakfast before her. Midway through her mental debate of sausage versus bacon, she felt a presence to her left.

"Good morning Severus." Hermione said, being friendly. He stared at her for a moment then nodded.

"If you say it is." She wondered for a moment if he was a downer just for fun then realized that he probably got very little sleep between patrols, all the essays he had to grade, and duties as deputy headmaster. At least, she thought, he no longer had to fight a war. She couldn't imagine the strain being a double agent had to have been on him. It certainly explained his moodiness.

"I do. I'm having the fifth through seventh years review basic transfiguration on animals just to see if I need to review. If we have some mistakes what time would be good for me to come drop them off?" she asked, trying to make some sort of conversation. What she planned was very basic so she estimated that there wouldn't be any mistakes but she hated just sitting in silence.

"I believe we have patrol together so we can retrieve them at that time." as he spoke Hermione admired his articulation. He made every word sound elegant in a way that few people could. She remembered with a grin the speech he gave in her first year. Though she had completed his NEWT course with extremely high (but not quite perfect) marks she still didn't believe she could bottle fame and brew glory. She did know how to put a stopper in death. There were some incredibly powerful healing potions for that.

"It would do you some good to put up your occlumency walls. I can hear everyone of your thoughts and I'm not focusing on you. And your deficiency of knowledge is due to the fact that you did not actually take potions your seventh year. Fama Gloria will do both."

Hermione stared at him slack jawed for a moment. He had been reading her thoughts?

"Not exactly. You have a subconscious habit of projecting your thoughts and I have one of scanning my surroundings. Trust me. I do not need to listen to your thoughts. Your face is pretty transparent." Hermione shot him a bit of a dirty look while putting the shields up around her mind.

"Better." he said approvingly.

They went back to silence for a while then Snape looked at her "I would watch out for your seventh years. The Slytherins don't respect you." he said.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you." she said, feeling slightly disappointed that they didnt even give her a chance. "if you always do this and I project my thoughts, why didn't you punish me for stealing from your stores?" she asked curiously.

"I was busy. Plus, two weeks as a cat was punishment enough. I knew you wouldn't do it again." he said. She rolled that around in her head for a few moments then realized it was time to go.

The mail came in and she got a letter from Ron that seemed to be drunk rambling about how she was a shoddy girlfriend and a daily prophet that showed his on the front cover, arm around some scantily clad woman at a bar. She was offended and saw some glances her way by the students but decided she would worry about it later. There was nothing to be done by bothering with it now. She couldn't help but feel a stab in her chest of pain.

She had actually enjoyed talking to Snape. He wasn't the most talkative person in the world but he wasn't as horrible and antisocial as he came off in her youth. He wasn't a social butterfly, that was for sure, but he wasn't above exchanging a few words. Hermione appreciated that.

"Goodbye Severus. Have a good morning." she said, hoping to convey her happiness over the fact that he had a bit of a conversation with her and not her embarrment or sadness at Ron's behavior.

"and you." he said in reply, taking a final swig of the orange juice in his cup.

When Hermione arrived at her classroom, there was a small group of first years gathered around the door. She smiled and said good morning as she walked by and spelled open the wooden door that lead to her classroom.

The transfiguration classroom was significantly brighter than the hall due to the fact that it had a window. She looked at the students who were standing in the back of the room hesitantly.

"You may take a seat where you please." she said in a friendly tone she hoped it didnt sound strained. As they seated themselves and several more students streamed in, she located the outline she had set for the class. She waited a few more minutes then started the class. This period she had Gryffindors and Slytherins. She noticed a divide of green and red ties and frowned. Some inter house mingling. She tossed the idea of a seating chart that sat them together around in her head and filed it away for later consideration.

"Good morning students! I am Professor Granger and this is transfiguration. Transfiguration is the art of turning one thing into another using magic. You can accomplish tasks as menial as changing a toothpick into a needle like so." she said, pulling out a toothpick and her wand and demonstrating "or as magical as turning yourself into an animagus she said, slipping her wand back into the hidden pocket in her sleeve.

She focused on all of her magic then visualized her animagus then painlessly found herself on all fours with enhanced senses. In the middle of the transfiguration classroom stood a large black jaguar. Some of the students cowered back and looked nervous, others looked on with awe. She changed herself back and smiled.

"All I ask for is your effort. Do your homework and focus when you are in here and I can teach you great and handy things using this skill. Who is ready to try some for themselves?" she asked, looking for a little bit of participation. The entire class raised their hands, excited to get to use those wands.

"Good." she said "now when I give you a toothpick you are going to take out your wands and make this motion. Try it with me." she watched them try the simple back and forth motion "a little less flourish Mister Craven." once they all had it down she told then the incantation and had them practice saying it with her.

"You have to visualize the toothpick turning into a needle as you do this. It will not be easy your first time." she warned "but I have faith that you will get it after this period."

She spent the morning enjoying the attempts of the first years to make the transfiguration. There was one student that she definitely identified with. His name was Phillipe Williams. He was a muggleborn and made the transfiguration on his second attempt. She smiled when he did this.

"Well done Mr. Williams. Five points to Gryffindor." she also awarded five points to the first Slytherin who accomplished it as well. She was going to attempt to be as fair as humanly possible when it came to treatment of students and house points. She remembered how it felt when Snape had played favorites with the Slytherins.

When the class was finished, she dismissed them. She had the first year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws next. I guess since a transfiguration OWL was required for graduation they wanted them to get used to her first.

Her schedule was easy. She had three classes Monday through Thursday and two classes Friday. Monday she had both sets of first years, then her sixth year NEWT class. Tuesdays were for second years and her seventh year NEWTs. Wednesdays were the third years and her sixth year NEWTs. Thursdays, she had the fourth years and seventh year NEWTs. Fridays she just had fifth years.

Her second period went by much like her first and before she knew it, it was noon and time for lunch. She noticed that most professors did not take lunch in the great hall. The house elves had prepared a light lunch which was appreciated by Hermione. She did not want to gain weight during her stay here. She realized she would need to fit exercise into her schedule somewhere. Not that she would have Ron to try to look good for anymore.

She sat by herself because Snape did not attend lunch and McGonagall was not present. She ate quickly, wanting to stop by her quarters to feed Crookshanks before she went back to classes. She made a mental note to ask one of the house elves to do so in the middle of the day so she wouldn't have to cut lunch short all of the time. Of course, her quarters were connected to her office which was connected to her classroom, but she still felt like she had a limited amount of time.

As she walked she thought about Ron. She fought off tears at the thought of betrayal. This wasn't the first time she had gotten one of his drunk letters but it was the first time he was caught with his arm around some woman. She felt humiliated. She decided to write a letter to Ron, breaking it off. She couldn't deal with this any more. She would ordinarily break up with someone in person but she had lost all respect for Ronald Weasley and she was done. She didn't know if he cheated for sure nor did she care. This was just a lot for her to handle.

She knew deep down when he started playing quid ditch and racking up some fame, that he would eventually cheat. She tried to keep a bit of a tight leash on him when they were living with Harry in Grimmauld Place before she left for Hogwarts but the night she left he went out and partied. The result of which made the front page of the paper.

She put a smile on her face and started her NEWT level sixth year class, keeping in mind what Severus said about the Slytherins. Her NEWT classes were small and therefore held all of the houses in that year taking the class.

"Good afternoon. I'm Professor Granger. Congratulations for all making NEWT level transfiguration. I would like to take today to review and evaluate your skills. On the board is a list of transfigurations I would like you to perform. On the counter are the objects and animals you need to change. Put your creatures in the cage next to the box for your objects that is marked with your name. This will be graded for participation but try your best." this class didn't require any teacher participation at all but it was necessary. She decided to sit at the desk in the front of the room and begin to write to Ron.

"Ronald Weasley,

I have tried and tried to make this work but you are clearly having issues staying faithful. Do not contact me. We are through. Maybe we will talk one day but now is not a good time.

-Hermione Granger"

She read it and reread it several time, changing a few words around and adding a little bit of how it hurt her and that she wanted to leave the Potters out of it. She left it short, not caring to elaborate. The message was clear either way. She was kicking Ron Weasley out of her life. She had a feeling he would write or come to Hogwarts asking for forgiveness but she knew she couldn't do that. Not this time.

She was done.


	4. Chapter 4

When she went to dinner that night, she was feeling incredibly crummy. The man next to her couldn't help but to notice the foul mood.

"Did the students beat you all ready? Pity. I thought you would last a week." he said. He knew it wasn't that but he wasn't the 'what's wrong?' kind of person and he had a responsibility to the staff of Hogwarts to ensure their mental well being. Hermione shot him a dirty look then pulled out the copy of the rag that printed the picture of Ron.

Snape glanced at it then realized that she and the Weasley had been together for quite some time. He set it down next to her and tried to decide what something adequate would be to say. He couldn't think of anything so he bowed his head to her, looking sorry, and stayed silent.

They ate quietly for some time before Hermione decided to say something.

"If he comes here, don't let him see me if you can help it please. I don't want to get sent to Azkaban."

"Sure. It would be incredibly difficult to find a transfiguration teacher with your credentials. There aren't too many registered animagi out there."

"Thank you." she said quietly, turning back to the pork in front of her.

A familiar white owl flew into the great hall and landed by Hermione. She sighed, only imagining what Harry would say. She took the letter from Hedwig and fed the owl of small piece of the meat on her plate. The owl flew off with a content hoot. Hermione stared at the letter for a moment. Not wanting to open it. Not wanting the connection to Ron that Harry had the potential to remind her of.

She realized she was being ridiculous and unrolled the parchment.

"Hermione,

I want to come talk to you tonight. I get off work at 8. What time works for you?

Love,

Harry"

Hermione felt taken care of after this letter and Harry showing that he cared enough to come over. She then realized that she had patrols.

"Take the night off. It's fine." Snape said gruffly. Hermione realized she needed to raise her shields again and did so.

"Are you sure? I don't want to slack." she said, feeling guilty about taking personal time so soon, not that she had asked for it.

"I've done it myself more times then I can count. Its only the second night anyway. No one will be out after hours this soon. You can make it up to me some other time. I'll swing by your quarters to pick up the mistransfigurations presuming you have any."

"I do. Half mouse, half desk, and still squeaking. I shrunk it down so it's manageable." she said to him.

"Thank you." he said.

"Thank you." Hermione said gratefully.

Dinner passed and Hermione wrote Harry that she was off for the night and anytime worked for her. Her heart leaped when she heard a knock on her door. She had been aching for someone to confide in. She needed someone to hold her when she cried.

"Hey Mione." he said when the door opened, his hair tousled. She said nothing just hugged him and cried. She let her soul weep and unload on her friend. Her sobs were plentiful and wracked her body with an unstoppable force. Harry said nothing, just rubbed her back, and let her purge the grief from her body.

"I'm sorry Harry. You're all wet." she said after she had calmed down, motioning to his chest which had her tears on it.

"Don't be." he said "want to talk about it?". She just nodded and he sat down on the couch and she sat down on the love seat.

"I loved Ron. Maybe not the way I should have but I did love him. Do love him. I think deep down I knew it wasn't right. He didn't want to do things with me like go to dinner or just spend time with me. He only took me out to quid ditch promotions and even then it only ended up fighting. For a while I thought that being unhappy was normal. Even my parents argued. When I saw couples like you and Ginny or Luna and Neville, I started to realize that it was not okay. I started to push him away too and that's probably why that happened." she still had tears running down her face but they were light.

"It's not your fault Hermione. He was a prat and had no right to do this to you. Ginny flooed over and found him with that tramp. We aren't speaking to him right now either." it made Hermione happy and sad to hear that the Potters were mad at this also.

"Thank you Harry. You don't know how much it means to me. I love you and Ginny." she said.

"We love you too Hermione. We really do. If you need anything or just want to talk or come over for dinner, you know our door is always open."

"Thank you. Go tell Ginny I said hello. Thank you for listening to me."

"Any time." he said and then hugged her and walked out.

Hermione decided to read for a little while to get her mind off things after she freshened up. With Snape's project on her mind, she selected a book about deformed animals in potions use. It was good to get her mind off of things. She fell asleep sitting in the chair with her book in her lap.

-x-

That Thursday, Hermione finally wasn't thinking about Ron all the time and realized that she needed to focus more on teaching. It had been a bit more involved than shed expected it to be but that made it even more fun for her. She loved a challenge.

She jumped vigorously into her job, nit-picking essays, writing down every thought she had about unconventional teaching methods, and even revising her lesson plans multiple times. She realized after the third lesson plan change that she wasn't being productive and decided that she was going to need to shake things up a bit.

Sick of her lack of quality exercise, she decided to go for a run. She didn't want to be seen by the students though, not because she dressed inappropriately, but because it just felt unprofessional for some reason. She decided to try something she hadn't before, running in her animagus form.

Friday evening after her last class but before dinner and before dark, she went outside and walked to the edge of the forbidden forest. Among the dark trees and creepy looking bushes near the entrance to the forest, she went from Hermione Granger, bush haired Gryffindor, to a sleek jungle cat.

She felt power ripple through her muscles as she began a steady trot. She found the trot too controlled and uncomfortable and decided to forfeit her attempt to pace herself and began to full on sprint.

Her cat body had less physical limits and as she ran, she felt good all over. She jumped over rotting fallen logs and weaved in-between mossy tree trunks. The further the went into the forest the darker it got due to the thick canopy overhead. When her sense of enhanced eyesight got too dull for her liking she began to retrace her scent through the woods, still running full speed.

As she was back tracking, she picked up on a smell that was familiar that she couldn't identify. She guessed that she would have plenty of time before she was expected back at the castle so she followed it. She traced it through a meadow and passed a stream. It became stronger suddenly and just as she was about to run up on it, she found herself in a full body bind.

She had a mini panic attack when she realized something could kill her and no one even knew where she was. She fought it as hard as she could and tried to break free. She fell limp all of a sudden as she heard a voice.

"Sorry Hermione. Habit." a silky voice said, somewhere out of sight. She stood up then transformed herself back into a human. When Snape saw this, he added "why were you running full speed at me?". His tone almost belittled her intelligence.

"I smelled something and was trying to figure out what it was. How did you know it was me?" she asked, a little disconcerted with how much the man seemed to know.

"You are a registered animagus are you not? Jaguars are not indigenous." he said it as it was just so obvious. Hermione's face was red both from the exercise and from embarrassment over the situation.

"Right." she conceded "what are you doing out here?" she asked nosily.

"Collecting potions ingredients. This leaf is highly potent this time a day. Make yourself useful and transfigured yourself a bag and some gloves. She did so, lapsing into student mode. She remembered exactly how to harvest this particular plant due both to potions and herbology class. She didn't mind helping out. She actually missed working with potions from time to time. The academic in her wished she would have waited to start teaching and gotten a master in potions as well.

"Next time don't go so far into the forest. Even though the dark lord is dead there are still some less than favorable characters in these woods." Snape warned.

"I'm pretty sure I could handle myself." she said, a little bigheadedly. Before she knew what was what she found herself trapped in another full body bind.

"That" he enunciated "is why." when he released her she shot him a dirty look then went back to collecting leaves.

"We should be getting back for dinner." he said after some time. She nodded and they walked back after they reduced the leaves. The trip back took longer than her trip in. The foliage around them seemed to grow more sinister as the sun set further. Subconsciously she walked closer to him; a protection instinct. Snape noted this and was surprised she didn't mind being so close, with their arms occasionally brushing.

When the castle was in sight Snape uttered a coarse word, noticing that they were a few minutes late for dinner. They both hurried up to the room, he did not like to be late. He was actually the biggest advocate for being on time. He shouldn't have let time get away from him like that. He silently chastised himself as Hermione thoughtlessly followed.

They made quite an entrance in The Grate Hall, both arriving late and slightly winded. Some of the seventh years made some comments about their state which they all knew were probably incorrect because it was the greasy git and their transfiguration professor actually had a lot going for her.

"Where have you two been?" the headmistress asked, looking slightly uncomfortable with the situation.

"We were collecting some potions ingredients in the forest." Hermione said loud enough for the students nearby to hear.

"Very well. Make sure you are on time from now on. It looks very bad when our teachers can't show up on time yet we punish the students for tardiness." the headmistress chastised her employees.

"Of course, Minerva." Severus said with a regal looking bow of his head. He then sat down and Hermione followed him. When they were seated he remembered that she was still in possession of his ingredients.

"I'll need to get those from you once dinner is over." he said cordially.

"Darn. I was going to sell them on the black market." she joked.

"Your salary isn't that bad." he returned. Hermione laughed quietly which left some of the staff and students a bit perplexed. How was Snape, bat of the dungeons, being entertaining?

Minerva then roped him into a conversation about the beginning of the quidditch season which left Hermione to toy idly with her peas until people began to leave, signaling the end of the meal.

All of a sudden, escalated voices could be heard.

"You're a filthy mud blood!" one student shouted towards another.

"At least my parents weren't dirty death eaters!" the other student said, defending himself.

"You'll pay for that." but before a wand could be drawn, Snape had his hand on the scruff of the neck of the Slytherin.

"To the headmistress's office." he almost whispered "NOW!"

Still back at the table, a little dumbstruck, Hermione had to admit that Snape still had it. She realized that since a Gryffindor had been involved in the argument, she should be there.

She collected herself and trailed behind Snape and the children. She caught up when they stopped to give the password. She was saddened as she remembered how Dumbledore's passwords were always candy. She wished the wizard hadn't died before he could see a Tom Riddle free world once again. When the staircase began to rise, she snapped out of her sadness and knew it was time to deal with the issue at hand.

Since this was the first time any trouble had sprung up or any reason for punishment, Hermione was a little lost. Which was not to say she didn't know how it should be handled. She, of course, had been in trouble plenty of times with Harry and...with Harry.

"What's the problem?" Professor McGonagall said, peering over her spectacles.

Both the boys involved in the fight were silent and looking everywhere but into her eyes.

"They were about to duel in the great hall." Snape said darkly, as if it was worse than anything he could imagine which, of course, it was not.

"I'll handle it you two." she said to Hermione and Severus, who turned around and exited the office. Hermione took the opportunity to hand him the ingredients she was in possession of once they were free of the confines of the staircase.

"Thank you." he said, slightly uncomfortable with the sentiment.

"You're welcome." she replied graciously. "if you ever need a hand, I like any excuse to go run around outside of the castle so I'd be glad to help." he nodded and walked away. Hermione watched him for a moment, wondering what had possessed her to offer up her free time. When he was out of sight, she began to walk towards the common room. She needed to give her house some information on the coming quidditch season. Then she would retire.


End file.
